THE LOST TRIBE OF JOSEPH FOUND
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.—John 10: 16.
WE have found strong evidence that the Good Shepherd visited America. We have also found substantial evidence that his sheep in America heard his voice and wrote down his words and had a sacred book. We are now confronted with the question of the origin of these sheep (house of Israel).
There is much in tradition and in ancient pictographs about the ancestors of the Indians migrating over seas and through vast forests and deserts. As already noted, the Toltecs are said to have carried their books with them.
Bancroft’s works tell us:
The Chileans assert that their ancestors came from the west. The Chepewyans have a tradition that they came from a distant land. . .
The Algonquins preserve a tradition of a foreign origin and a sea voyage. For a long time they offered an annual thank offering in honor of their happy arrival in America. According to Careri, the Olmec traditions relate that they came by sea from the east.1 [ For original Thanksgiving Day, see Mosiah 1: 30 in the Nephite Record.]
In the Popol Vuh, we are told that the Lost Book of God shows clearly “that we came from beyond the sea.”
Mr. Bancroft says, “According to the Quich6s’ tradition, the primitive portion of the Nahu as, or ancestors of the Toltecs, were in a distant East, beyond immense seas and lands.”2
Gregory Mason says that there are many legends along the west coast of South America concerning the remote arrival on rafts, of a very learned and powerful people.3
Brinton says, “The Aztec priests never chanted more regretful dirges than when they sang of Tulan, the cradle of their race.”4
Sahagun (pioneer traveler among Aztecs) was asked by the natives if he came from Tiapallan. He had crossed the sea to their country; and the inquisitive natives wanted to know, if he came from the same place their ancestors did.5
The evidence in the New World points across the sea for the origin of the ancient people. Since Christ himself is the Holy One of Israel and said he was “not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” it appears that the Bible might be the most likely place to look for the origin of the flock of sheep who were led to America.
THE FLOCK OF JOSEPH
Give ear, 0 Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellcst between the cherubims, shine forth.—Psalm
80: 1.
Where did the Shepherd of Israel lead the flock ‘of Joseph? Let us trace the movements of Joseph and see if the Bible will not give us a plain, clear-cut answer. Jacob’s blessing to his son Joseph says:
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and bated him:
But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.—Genesis 49: 22-26.
The next lead we get as to the destiny of Joseph is found in Deuteronomy. Moses gives a description of Joseph’s land to which we shall make future reference.
And of Joseph he [Moses] said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,
And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren—Deuteronomy 33: 13-16.
Let us continue to trace the movements and destiny of the tribe of Joseph.
And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and Manasseh.— I Chronicles 9: 3.
A REMNANT TO ESCAPE FROM JERUSALEM
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.—Isaiah
37: 32.
Just before Nebuchad rezzar came against Jerusalem to sack the city and carry the survivors away into captivity, the Prophet Jeremiah, who lived in Jerusalem at that time, delivered a prophecy to someone, instructing them to flee and get far away.
Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, 0 ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the Lord; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon bath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.
Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the Lord, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.—Jeremiah 49: 30, 31.
Let us sum up our biblical clues so far. The blessing of Joseph was to be unto the ‘~utmost bound of the everlasting hills” (Andes or Rockies). Joseph’s land was to be blessed with many specific things as mentioned in Deuteronomy. We shall soon search for that part of the earth which best meets the requirements of this prophecy. The flock of Joseph settled in Jerusalem. Someone was to escape from Jerusalem before the king of Babylon destroyed the city. The “zeal of the Lord of hosts” was to do this. In other words, the Shepherd of Israel would lead Joseph like a flock (Psalm 80: 1). Jeremiah delivers the prophecy to those that are to flee and offers some hints as to where they are to go. It was to be far off. It is to be a “wealthy nation which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.” All the cities of the Old World had walls, gates, and bars, and no nation dwelt alone.
We found strong evidence in the New World, pointing back across the sea as the place “from whence they came.” Now, in the Old World and from the Bible, we find clear-cut evidence pointing across the sea to the New World as the place to which the flock of Joseph was led.
JOSEPH’S BRANCHES TO RUN OVER WALL (SEA)
Psalm 80: 1, 8, 11 says:
0 Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock.
Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
Isaiah says:
For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness:
her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.—16: 8.
Jeremiah says:
o vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer:
thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer:
the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.— 48: 32.
JOSEPH’S LAND DESCRIBED
We have already had strong indications that the Shepherd of Israel led his flock of Joseph away from Jerusalem down “through the wilderness” and “over the sea,” “to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.”
Moses in the thirty-third chapter of Deuteronomy names eight specific points for which Joseph’s land is to be noted. II America is Joseph’s land and the choice pasture to which the “Shepherd of Israel” led “the flock of Joseph,” then we must expect that America will meet the requirements of Moses’ eight points better than any other country in the world.
Blessed of the Lord be his [Joseph’s] land, for the precious things of heaven.
Peter says, “Unto you… which believe, he [Christ] is precious” (I Peter 2: 7). Without question, the Savior is most precious. Joseph’s land was to be blessed because of the precious things of heaven. In other words, Joseph’s land was to be blessed by the presence of the Holy One of Israel. In our first chapter, “The God of Ancient America,” we found that evidence of Christ’s visit to Joseph’s land (America) is indeed great.
Moses used the word “things” (plural), so Joseph’s land is to be blessed with more than one precious thing of heaven. Next to the presence of the Good Shepherd himself, his words or a holy record takes second place as a precious thing of heaven. (SeelSamuel3: 1.)
We found evidences on both sides of the sea that the ancestors of the Indians came from ancient Israel. Also, we find evidences on both sides of the sea (Old and New World)
that Joseph’s land was to be blessed of a second thing of heaven—a holy book.
The Prophet Ezekiel tells us:
The word of the lord came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
And join them one to another into one stick: and they shall become one in thine hand.
And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
—37: 15-19.
According to Ezekiel, Judah was to have a book (the Bible), and Joseph was also to have a book. Where is the Book of Joseph? If America is Joseph’s land, then we ought to find evidence of Joseph’s book on this side of the sea. Among the Indians’ writings and legends as already noted, we find evidence that the ancient Americans had a Holy Book of God. The seeker for truth asks, “Where is the book now?”
It does appear that the ancient people knew of thin gold plates with hieroglyphics.
A Spanish colonial history states:
The Mexican Indians sold to some European antiquarians very thin plates of gold, evidently worked with a hammer, which their ancestors had been able to preserve, and on which were engraved ancient hieroglyphics.7
In April, 1949, the author in company with Francis Anderson of Holden, Missouri, visited the awe-inspiring Museo de Oro or Museum of Gold in the Bank of the Republic at Bogota, Colombia.
The Museo de Oro contains by far the largest and finest collection of ancient gold artifacts the author has seen in the Western Hemisphere. Among the fabulous arrays of jewelry and golden artifacts, there is one showcase devoted to numerous rolls of thin gold paper. On the wall of the showcase are a number of specimens of the thin gold plates or paper on which there are inscriptions.
We have given consideration to the first of eight different things for which Joseph’s land was to be blessed. Let us briefly consider the seven remaining points.
Blessed of the Lord be his [Joseph’s] land, for the dew and for the deep that coucheth beneath.
For great rivers, fountains, and lakes, America is far ahead of any other part of the world.
According to Hendrick Van Loon’s Geography, the Mississippi-Missouri River is the longest river in the world (4,221
miles). It is navigable 3,550 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico, a distance greater than from New York to London.
The Yukon, known as the “Wandering River,” rises within fifteen miles of the Pacific, flows 2,300 miles, then empties into the Pacific. Steamboats cover all but fifteen miles of it. Next to the Mississippi-Missouri River, the Amazon is the longest river in the world (3,900 miles). For volume of water, no river can compare with the Amazon. During the wet season, the mouth of the river is said to be fifty miles wide. The Amazon River drops only one inch each five miles in its last seven hundred miles and flows only two and one quarter miles per hour, yet its current is felt two hundred miles at sea.
And fo7 the precious fruits brought forth by the sun.
The agricultural fruits of America are indeed precious now. Because America is so far ahead of the rest of the world in agricultural resources, it is helping greatly to feed the world. Countless millions across the sea depend upon the world’s bread basket (Mississippi Valley) for their food. In statistics published in 1938, before the war had upset the world’s economy, the United States (only one of the nations living in Joseph’s land) was producing 60 per cent of the wheat and cotton of the globe.
And for the precious things put forth by the rnoon.
It is well known that the moon as well as the sun plays its part in influencing and wooing plant life into maximum activity.
Mr. Nadaillac says:
In no region of the globe has nature been rnore prodigal than in the vast districts stretching from Guiana to Uruguay, from the Atlantic to the forest spurs of the Andes, forming the empire of Brazil. The fertility of the soil, under the double influence of heat and moisture, is wonderful; forest trees grow in great variety everywhere; valuable medical plants spring up in profusion which are not to be met with in any other climate; and vegetables, good for food, or fruits pleasant to
the palate of man, with flowers of the most brilliant colors. Fifteen thousand vegetable species peculiar to Brazil have already been recognized.8
And for the chief things of the ancient rnountains.
There are no forests in the Old World that begin to compare with the vast forests of the United States and Canada. “Founder’s Tree” on the Eel River in northern California is the tallest tree in the world (364 feet). In the Sequoia National Forest in California, there is one tree which contains enough lumber to build fifty-five five-room homes. Hooker’s Oak, near Chico, California, is the largest oak tree in the world. There are trees in California with a circumference of ninety-eight feet.
In the Kansas City Star for March 24, 1949 is a feature article about three giant cypresses in a valley in Mexico. The largest of these trees has a circumference of more than 114 feet. Its age is estimated as high as 10,000 years.
And for the precious things of the lasting hills.
The United States possesses (1938) almost $11,000,000,000 in gold, or nearly half of the world’s monetary metal. It has two thirds of civilization’s banking resources. The purchasing power of the population is greater than that of the 500,000,000 people in Europe and much larger than that of more than a billion Asiatics. These figures are to be found in the record. They are the envy of the world. Turning to one of our journals, The United States News, we find more statistics concerning automobiles. This country has 22 to every 100 persons. Canada has ii; France, 5; United Kingdom, 5; Germany, 2; and Italy, 1.
The United States produces 50 per cent of the copper and pig iron, and 40 per cent of the lead and coal output of the globe.9
These figures are taken from an article published in 1938. The title of the article is “America Has Highest Living Standard of the Nations.”
According to a recent chart prepared by the National Federation of Small Business in Washington, D.C., the United States has one auto for each four persons, Britain one auto for each twenty-two persons, Sweden one for twenty-nine persons, Italy one for ninety-three persons, and Russia one auto for two hundred and fifty-two persons. And though only possessing 6 per cent of the world’s land area we possess 40 per cent of the world’s telegraphs and 30 per cent of its railroads.
And for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof.
The United States, exclusive of the other countries of the New World, produces 70 per cent of the world’s oil (1937-38).
The United States contains 6 per cent of the world’s area and 7 per cent of its population; but because of its wealth, based on the richness of its vast natural resources, it consumes 48 per cent of the world’s coffee, 53 per cent of its tin, 56 per cent of its rubber, 72 per cent of its steel, 36 per cent of its coal, and 42 per cent of its pig iron.
And for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush.
A great mass of evidence discloses that the ancient Americans had prophets and a Sacred Book, and that Jesus Christ visited them. In what other part of the world (Europe, Siberia, India, Australia, Africa) is there such evidence of having “the good will of him that dwelt in the bush”?
If we take Moses’ eight points in Deuteronomy as the determining factor in identifying Joseph’s land, there can be no other conclusion than that America is Joseph’s land and that it is the place where the Good Shepherd led the flock of Joseph (Psalm 80: 1).
1. Bancroft, Native Races, Volume 5, page 22.
2. Bancroft, Native Races, Volume 3, page 270.
3. Gregory Mason, Columbus Came Late, page 68.
4. Brinton, Myths of the New World, page 90.
5. Brinton, Myths of the New World, page 91.
6. Ann Axtell Morris, Digging in Yucatan, page 262.
7. Dr. Saville, Goldsmith’s Art in Ancient Mexico, page 175.
8. Nadaillac, Prehistoric America, page 465.
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